Five Cards Whenever #42-46: Franchy Cordero, NL Average Leaders, Jesus Sanchez, Gerrit Cole, Jorge Alfaro

See here for a headnote and explanation.

#42: Franchy Cordero

As opposed to Frenchy Bordagaray?

#43: NL Average Leaders

Average leaders? Sounds like an oxymoron. I want above average leaders. That’s why they’re “leaders.” BITD, all the leader cards came consecutively numbered: average, home runs, and RBI for batters; wins, strikeouts, and ERA for pitchers. More recently they’re haphazard in the way they numerically. (As an aside, I find it amazing and embarrassing that the tenth best BA in the NL was .278, by Justin Turner. For shame.)

#44: Jesus Sanchez

Seems like he has nice power off the bench, with 14 and 13 homers, respectively, in part-time duty over the past couple of years with the Marlins. But his minor league stats are so copious they take up the entire card, with no room for an amusing factoid.

#45: Gerrit Cole

Remember what I said about cards ending in “0” or “00?” Seems good but not great players used to get “5”s. But Cole has finished in the top 10 for Cy Young six times in 10+ seasons, coming in second twice. He is eighth among active pitchers in wins and strikeouts and fifth in ERA, “Leader card” categories. Shouldn’t that merit Gerrit better placement?

#46: Jorge Alfaro

Career highlight occurred last year (according to the card): “a three-run walk-off [home run] when the Padres were down 2-0 to the Marlins on May 8.” For as much as fans complain about the quality of a player, allow me to remind that even the worst player of all-time still did something the vast majority of the population will never do. (According to Betstation.com (who?), the WOAT was an early 20th-century infielder by the name of John Gochnaur who “got his name into the record books” by being “the last major league player to finish a season with 90 or more errors. Gochnaur also holds the record for most at-bats without a home run with a player below a batting average of .200.” Personally, I would like to get a more educated opinion. I’d also like to know the WOAT who enjoyed the longest career.

Tagged as: Franchy Cordero, Gerrit Cole, Jesus Sanchez, Jorge Alfaro, NL Average Leaders, Topps